Cherry Pie

We were at the farmers market this morning and the bear mentioned that he LOVES Cherry pie.  I have had never made one.  So I bought a bag of fresh cherries and looked for a recipe.  Step one is pit four cups of cherries.  The cherry pitter is in the other kitchen, so I did them by hand with a knife.  Really not bad, cut them around the outside from the stem to the stem, split in half and the pit comes out fairly easy.  The riper the cherries the easier the pit comes out.  Put them in a sauce pan, with a quarter cup of good brandy, check the quality of the brandy, no rubbish. heat over medium heat, as they come to a simmer they will release a great deal of liquid.  Stir in 1.5 cups of sugar and 4 tablespoons of cornstarch.  Let simmer for a few minutes,  The liquid will thicken into a nice sauce. Let this cool to about room temperature (30 minutes.)  For the pastry start with half a pound of cold butter.  I cut this into cubes and droped into the food processor.  Add 2.5 cups of all purpose flower, a tablespoon or two of sugar, and a generous pinch of salt.  Pulse the food processor to  blend, stop at a course texture - be careful not to over process.  While steadily processing add 4-6 tablespoons of cold water. The texture will change, though it won't form a ball.  Stop processing, over processing will result in tough pastry.  Turn out onto a work surface, press into a ball, divide roughly in half and put half in the refrigerator to stay cool.  Because this is a butter based crust, keeping it cool is critical.  Roll the bottom crust, line the pie plate. Fill the bottom crust with the cherry filling.  Roll out the top and crimp the edge.  I made four vent holes, but the bubble up comes where it comes.  Bake at 375-400 for 45 minutes.  It may boil over, I baked it on a cookie sheet lined with foil.  If I had known it was the easy, I would have done  this years ago.